


20xx Elf Bowling Champs

by Chan (Gummie88), Karcutie



Category: Homestuck
Genre: All 4 Striders, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Art for every chapter, Collaboration, College woes, Comedy, DaveKat idiocy, Dirk's depressed, Domestic, Established DaveKat, Established Relationship, Family Drama, Fluff, Humanstuck, Karkat comes from a religious family so, M/M, Mild Catholicism mention, More tags and characters to be added, Sequel, Slightly controlling parents, They're in high school but that's not the main focus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27824158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gummie88/pseuds/Chan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karcutie/pseuds/Karcutie
Summary: "Babe did you know there's an Elf Bowling movie?""An Elf Bowling... Movie..." Karkat repeated incredulously."Yeah, it was just uploaded for free onto YouTube. It took like ten solid minutes of convincing but Dirk finally caved and came to watch it with me. Man, I joked about there bein' a ton of lore just based off the game, and I was totally right. The sheer amount of Elf Bowling world building I got from that fuckin' movie blew my dick clean off. Okay so, like, the first thing Dirk noticed was that in the beginning, this dude picks up these three elves by their hats? How can you pick someone up by their hat unless it's literally part of their heads? So me and Dirk were like, theorizing about these creepy Christmas creature freaks with hats sewn onto their skulls. But then in literally the next scene the twink blond elf just takes off his hat? Like it's just a normal hat that'snotattached to his head? And I just thought that was so crazy 'cause there's absolutely no way that has anything to do with the quality of the film, since that shit is so masterfully crafted that not a single thing could be wrong with it-""Dave..." Karkat cut him off, "What the fuck does this have to do with math?"
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 10
Kudos: 57





	20xx Elf Bowling Champs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I don't really have much to say in regards to my terrible upload schedule. Not kidding when I say student teaching has been kicking my ass... though with the holidays rapidly approaching I'm hoping I'll have some more time to write. In the meantime, here's the first chapter of the sequel to [When You're Here You're Family Dogg!!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23636911/chapters/56730448) Reading that fic first isn't necessary, but if you want some more background on the familial relationship between the Strider brothers and Dirk's falling out with Jake, I highly recommend you read it (it also has some DaveKat sprinkled throughout if that's your thing). 
> 
> This has been pre-written since probably July or something?? It's been forever, but I was busy with writing the Hogwarts AU. Though I thought this sitting around unposted was a crime, so here it is for you guys to enjoy! 
> 
> (oh psst btw Dave and Karkat are both 18 and they're seniors in high school, about to graduate. Just wanted to clear that up here)
> 
> As always, this fic is a collab between and Karcutie (who drew all the art for When You're Here You're Family Dogg and our Hogwarts AU). Huge thanks to them for being my best friend in the world and helping our stories come to life with their amazing art. Seriously I love them so much!
> 
> As usual, make sure you like and COMMENT if you like the fic! Comments motivate me to write more and faster. I hope everyone's having a safe holiday season so far. Enjoy!

Dave was so unbelievably bored. He sat cross-legged on his bed, his headphones fit snugly over his ears and his laptop open in front of him. He had been clicking around various websites for the better part of an hour, and was finally running out of things to do. He updated the SBaHJ website (which only took about two minutes since he could draw the comics so fast) and there was nothing interesting happening on social media. Even TikTok had been a bust. He heaved out a long sigh, contemplating what to do next. He _could_ be using his time to be productive and get some homework done... the key word there being _could_.

He really wished Karkat was there with him. Being bored with your boyfriend was infinitely better than being bored alone. At least they could make out or something. Karkat had been so busy that they'd barely gotten to spend any time together and Dave was starting to have Karkat withdrawal symptoms.

Well, even if they couldn't talk in person, that didn't mean Dave couldn't shoot him a message. He pulled up his pesterchum window and quickly selected Karkat's handle.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering carcinoGenecist [CG] \--

TG: hey man whats up  
TG: havent really heard from you in a couple days  
TG: well other than at school but that doesnt count  
TG: i found this game online and it looks like only four people on the planet have played it which means the speed running community is basically nonexistent  
TG: thought i would exploit the shit out of that and finally get a world record thatll last for more than a couple hours  
TG: i need you here for moral support though can you come over  
TG: i swear it wont be like last time where i played for like six hours ive got this one in the bag  
TG: im so fucking prepared it isnt even funny  
TG: maybe my training as a young speed runner is finally going to pay off with this game  
TG: its like when daniel finally utilized all that sweet training he received from mr miyagi  
TG: not sure who mr miyagi is in this comparison but you get the gist  
CG: THIS METAPHOR LITERALLY MAKES NO SENSE. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?  
TG: oh shit youre here  
CG: GOD. MY PHONE WAS BUZZING WITH SO MANY NOTIFICATIONS THAT I THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS WRONG FOR A SECOND.  
CG: BUT NO, IT WAS JUST YOU ENDLESSLY MONOLOGUING AT ME. I'M AN IDIOT FOR EXPECTING ANYTHING ELSE.  
TG: but you love my monologuing  
CG: I REALLY DON'T.  
TG: aw come on dont be like that  
TG: so are you coming over or what  
CG: I'M WORKING, DUMBASS. I ALREADY TOLD YOU THIS.  
CG: I SHOULDN'T EVEN BE ON MY PHONE RIGHT NOW. I'M GOING TO STOP RESPONDING AND YOU BETTER NOT SEND ME A MILLION MESSAGES WHILE I'M GONE.  
CG: I WILL BLOCK YOU.  
TG: no wait dont go  
TG: you can be sneaky about texting everybody does it  
CG: I'M NOT GOING TO RISK GETTING YELLED AT AGAIN JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE BORED.  
CG: I’M LEAVING NOW. I’LL RELUCTANTLY LISTEN TO YOUR RAMBLINGS IN A FEW HOURS, IDIOT.  
CG: BYE.  
TG: karkat wait

\-- carcinoGenecist [CG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] \--

Damn. Dave frowned at his computer, sighing loudly. Could he seriously not text while he was at work? He worked in the front office of his dad's church. He always complained about how fucking boring the job was and yet was too jumpy to just text under the table or something like any normal person would. Now he was left sitting there without a boyfriend to talk to.

Unless...?

Dave suddenly got an idea, moving his headphones from his ears so that they were draped around his neck. He picked up his phone that had been sitting next to his laptop, unlocking it to do a brief google search. Once he got the number he needed he hit the call button, bringing the phone up to his ear.

It was halfway through the second ring before someone picked up. "Thank you for calling the All Saints Church, how can I help you today?" A boy's voice mumbled into the receiver.

"Hey babe." Dave greeted casually.

Karkat sputtered on the other end. "Dave...?!"

"Your customer service voice is cute." He said, a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Why the fuck are you calling me at work?" The other demanded, obviously trying to keep the volume of his voice down.

"Man is that any way to speak to someone? In a _church_ no less?"

Karkat let out a long, annoyed sigh. "What do you want?" He asked through clenched teeth, trying to keep his composure.

"I'm bored and you stopped responding to my texts."

"I stopped responding to you because I'm at _work_ , Dave. Not all of us can sit around at home with our hands down our fucking pants every day."

"You're always complaining that work is boring so I thought I'd be doing you a favor. Plus being on the phone makes you look busy, right?"

"Well yeah, but I'm pretty sure my dad won't be too happy if he catches me talking to my boyfriend on the business phone in the church's front office."

"He's not going to find out if you're sneaky enough."

"Oh my god..." His boyfriend lamented. "Do you even have anything to talk about?"

"Is that even a question?" Dave asked with an eyebrow raised. He wasn't going to try and pretend like he wasn't aware of his ability to ramble about absolutely nothing for an obscene amount of time.

"Shit, you're right, that was a stupid question." Karkat agreed. Even if he seemed genuinely annoyed at first, Dave could tell that he was slowly relaxing into the conversation. "So what do you want to talk about? Enlighten me."

"Hmm..." Dave thought for a second, a smirk slowly spreading across his face as he decided to push the limits and fuck with him just a little more. "So what are you wearing...?" He asked him coyly.

Karkat was silent for a second, trying to process the question. "Uh... what I wore to school today?" He replied obliviously.

"Hot." Dave replied instantly.

Karkat made an indignant sound, finally getting the direction of the conversation. "I'm hanging up now. Bye, Dave."

"No Karkat wait-!"

"Go annoy one of your brothers or something."

The line went dead, leaving Dave in silence. The blond brought his phone down from his ear with a huff. Fuck, he probably shouldn't have pushed it, but damn was it funny to fluster his boyfriend like that. Totally worth it.

Dave tipped his head back against the wall, staring at the ceiling and contemplating what he should do next. Any other time he would absolutely take Karkat's advice, but bro was at work and Dirk was being... well, Dirk. Things had been awkward between them for awhile, and it was just within the last couple weeks that those tensions had started to dissipate. Apparently he had gone through a pretty brutal breakup with Jake, and instead of just telling him what was going on, he took out his frustrations on him and Karkat. They were pretty much past all that shit by that point, but Dirk was still being distant, shutting himself away in his room to work his new project or whatever the hell. He still wouldn't tell Dave what it was. He was being weirdly secretive about it, more so than any other thing he had built up to that point.

Fuck it. Dave took his headphones off and left them on his bed as he scooted off, making his way towards the door. It opened with a quiet creak and he stepped out into the narrow hallway, only having to take a few steps until he was in front of Dirk's door. He raised his fist up so he could knock against the wood a couple times. He paused, listening to see if he could hear any movement from inside. When there wasn't any, he turned the knob and started to push the door open. "Dirk?" He called out uncertainly.

The other had his back to him, hunched over his desk as his hands worked meticulously. He was wearing his new headphones that their oldest brother, Dane, had just gotten him a couple weeks ago. They did look pretty nice and were no doubt noise canceling, which would explain why he hadn't heard Dave knock. Or even realized he was in his room, for that matter.

Dave was used to organized chaos that was Dirk's room, but it seemed even messier than usual. Along with the typical half-finished robots, his desk was littered with food wrappers and a few empty cans of orange soda. The desktop computer on the other end of his desk displayed line after line of complicated text and code that Dave couldn't even read from where he was standing. His curtains were drawn so that no natural light could come in, only exacerbating the depressing atmosphere.

As Dave's eyes scanned the room, he debated on whether or not he should be worried. Dirk was known for shutting himself away in his room for extended periods of time, though it was starting to get concerningly excessive.

Well, whatever the case, Dirk definitely wasn't going to take any advice from him… that is, if Dave even wanted to give him advice. Which he didn’t. He was pretty much only bothering him because Karkat was busy. Dave took the role of annoying little brother _very_ seriously.

He leaned one shoulder against the door frame, knocking louder on the half-open door. "Diiiiirk..." He called out.

Finally, the other perked up, moving his headphones so that they were around his neck and swiveling around in his chair to face Dave. Jesus, he looked like hell. He was wearing an old T-shirt, some shorts, and oversized robe that definitely didn't belong to him. Dane must have left it behind and he just decided to start wearing it. His usually-styled hair was slightly messy and plastered to his head where his headphones had been. Without his shades, Dave could see the bags under his eyes that clearly indicated the guy hadn't slept for days. Dave had to physically restrain himself from making a face that clearly portrayed the exclamation 'yikes'.

"Haven't I told you to knock before barging in here?" Dirk said, straight to-the-point as ever.

"I did knock, bro. You didn't hear me."

"Usually when someone doesn't answer the door after you knock that means that they're busy, not that you should just walk in."

"So what are you doing?" Dave pressed, purposely ignoring that remark.

Dirk's lips set in a thin line and his eyes narrowed into a glare. "Working." He replied tersely, once again turning around in his chair to face his desk.

Dave resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that. 'Working', yeah right. Since he hadn't outright kicked him out, Dave took that as a good sign to venture further into the room, leaving the door open as he stepped inside. He was extra careful to not step on anything. When he was close enough to the other's computer, his eyes scanned the various lines of code, though none of it made sense to him at all. Instead, he watched Dirk work over his shoulder, eyebrows drawing together in confusion as he fiddled with a pair of his dumb pointy anime shades. There was a thin wire connecting them to his PC and it had the tiniest circuit board Dave had ever seen. And he'd seen , like, _at least_ two circuit boards before. Definitely the smallest.

"So..." He began, not missing the way Dirk's shoulders tensed when he spoke, even if absolutely knew Dave had been looming over him. "Are you ever gonna tell me what this is all about or am I going to have to keep guessing?"

"Keep guessing."

"Word. Alright."

Dirk stopped. "No actually please don't-"

"Spy camera? Y'know, where you can record shit wherever you go. Dunno what you'd need that for though... Oh! Laser vision! Please tell me they're shades with laser vision that'd be so fucking sick."

"What the fuck functionality would that serve?" Dirk countered, getting swept up in the ridiculous guesses even though that's what he was trying to avoid. He shook his head, clearing his mind. "Jesus - Do you need something? Why are you even in here?"

Dave shrugged, trying to appear casual as he put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "What, I can't come say hi to my bro? I haven't seen you in, like, three days."

Dirk continued to stare at him, not convinced. "Did you and Karkat get into a fight or something? You only come in here to bug me when you can't talk to him." Dirk observed, once again trying to get back to what he was doing. He was right in the middle of a precarious task and it was going to take him a while to get back into the groove of things.

Dave made a 'pfft' noise, waving his hand to dismiss the thought. "No, we're not fighting. And that is totally not true." He made sure to add.

Dirk just gave him a look of disbelief out of the corner of his eye, raising an eyebrow.

Dave crumbled quickly under the accusing gaze. "Okay, well, he's been really busy lately so we haven't talked much, but I still wanted to hang out with you too." He said.

Dirk could hear that he was being genuine and his shoulders dropped slightly as some tension left his body. He sighed. "Fine, you can sit in here with me, but I'm going to keep working on this."

"Sweet." Dave said with a grin, pulling up the chair in question so that he could sit closer.

He watched Dirk work for maybe a full minute before he just started talking, rambling about anything and everything he could think of. The older Strider easily tuned him out, only nodding and humming when appropriate to feign that he was still listening. Dave pretty much knew he was being tuned out. He mostly just wanted someone to spend time with in any capacity. He'd probably just go bug bro when he got home from work later, anyway. It was simply a mutual understanding between two very different brothers as they passed the time in their own ways.

\--

As Dave walked to lunch the next day, he couldn't believe that it was only noon. Being the spring semester, all the days and weeks had started to blur together, turning everything into a boring haze. Him and all the other seniors were just desperately waiting to graduate. At least he could look forward to seeing Karkat at lunch.

The blond approached their round table they had claimed for the year, smiling when he saw that Karkat was already there. He must have gotten there early since he already had a tray of food, but it was pushed aside to make room for a couple notebooks that he had laid out in front of him. He hadn't noticed Dave yet, too busy writing in one of the said notebooks. He took a second to admire his boyfriend's light brown skin tone and how it complimented his black fluffy hair. His tired brown eyes scanned the page as he continued to write, one elbow propped up on the table with his cheek in his palm.

"Hey." Dave greeted casually, shrugging off his old backpack and dropping it down next to his chair before sitting down. Karkat grunted to acknowledge his presence without looking up. "What are you doing?" He asked, trying to lean closer to see.

"Homework. I didn't have enough time to get it done last night since I had to work." The other said, his voice almost getting lost in the droning chatter of other students around them. It wasn’t like Karkat to be quiet.

The thing about Karkat was that he was really bad at masking his emotions. He was seriously just radiating the aura of stress. Dave bit his lip. "Your dad won't let you do homework while you're in the office? That blows."

"Maybe I would be able to get work done if a certain someone would stop blowing up my phone." Karkat countered, giving him an accusatory glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Ah shit I didn't get you in trouble did I? I was just fuckin' around I'm sorry." Dave babbled, suddenly feeling bad.

Karkat blinked, surprised by the apology. "What? No, it's fine. I mean, you really do spam the fuck out of my phone but I didn't get in trouble or anything." He actually kind of looked forward to reading through Dave's nonsense after he clocked out, but there was no way he was going to tell him that. He was not going to encourage that behavior.

Dave looked relieved. "Thank god. So that means I can call you at work again right?"

"No!" The shorter replied instantly, glaring at him even though there was no real malice behind it. Dave just laughed. "Aren't you going to get some food?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Forgot to bring money. I'll just wait 'til after school to eat." He said, opening his backpack to retrieve his school-issued laptop.

Typical. Dave was so fucking forgetful about everything. Karkat reached over to his own tray of food, grabbing an unopened bottle of apple juice. He set it down beside Dave's laptop. "Here. I had a feeling you'd forget to bring money today."

Dave gasped comically loud, his entire expression lighting up with a smile. "Holy shit _fuck_ yes." He exclaimed, grinning over at Karkat. "I love you so fucking much. I could kiss you right now." He told him, cracking open the lid of the apple juice and taking a long swig.

Karkat's cheeks burned with a blush. "Jesus Christ, it's just apple juice."

"It's the thought that counts." Dave said, taking another small drink before he capped it. They fell into a comfortable silence after that, Karkat resuming his homework while Dave dicked around on his laptop. At one point Dave plugged in some headphones, offering an earbud to the other. Karkat graciously took it, scooting his chair a little closer so they could listen together.

About a minute later, someone else approached their table, holding their own tray of food. "Hey guys!" John Egbert greeted, taking a seat across from them. He was smiling widely, his front teeth protruding out just a bit over his bottom lip.

"'Sup." Dave said, nodding to acknowledge his friend.

Before John could say anything else, he noticed Karkat taking notes and watched him for a couple seconds. "Is that our English homework? That's not like you to not have your stuff done." He commented, tilting his head.

Karkat grunted, his face scrunching up in an expression that was somehow even more stressed than it was before. "I know! I can't fucking stand how goddamn busy I've been lately. Literally fuck everything." He lamented.

Dave watched his boyfriend wearily from behind his shades, not sure what to say. He quietly took another drink of his juice.

"Man I get that... You've been busy with college applications, right? How did your essay turn out?" John asked.

Karkat stopped writing mid-sentence, his eyes widening. Fuck. FUCK. Just leave it to John fucking Egbert to bring up something he wasn't ready to talk about yet. He didn't even dare to look over at Dave. Maybe he was just listening to music and tuning them out? Wouldn't be the first or last time he'd do that. There was no way he could have picked up on that-

"Essay? What is he talking about?" Dave cut in, confusion apparent in his voice.

GodDAMMIT. Karkat's heart started beating fast in his chest and he swallowed thickly. John must have also realized his slip up since his smile fell and he covered his mouth with one hand.

"What is this about college applications?" Someone piped up from the other side of the table, startling the three of them.

Jade Harley went to sit down in her seat, completely unaware of the conversation that she interrupted. She scooted her chair forward, her long, fluffy hair bouncing slightly as she did. They were kind of surprised to see her since the lunch period was almost over. She must have spent time with some other friends before coming over to talk to them.

"Yeah, what is this about college applications?" Dave repeated, an accusatory tone in his voice. The others may have not picked up on it, but Karkat definitely did, especially since he could feel Dave pointedly looking at him.

"I've already gotten a couple responses from my applications!" Jade announced, not giving Karkat an opportunity to answer Dave's pointed question. Thank god she didn't pick up on the tense atmosphere.

"Oh my goood," John groaned. "I know about your stupid applications you talk about them all the time."

"That's because you're my brother!" Jade claimed, sticking her tongue out at him. "That doesn't mean I've told Dave or Karkat about it yet."

John just rolled his eyes, but didn't interrupt her any more so that she could talk.

"I got an acceptance letter from that place I applied to in South America. It's definitely at the top of my list!"

"What happened to that place in Germany?" John asked.

"Oh yeah..." Jade hummed. "I think I'd rather go somewhere tropical. I really want to go where it’s warm, I'm so tired of being cold all the time."

"We live in Houston..." John deadpanned.

"Yeah? My point still stands?"

Dave's jaw dropped at the news, taken off guard. "What, really? You're studying abroad?"

"Definitely. I don't think I can stay in Houston. I want to go and explore the world, y'know?"

The blond nodded numbly. While him and Jade didn't hang out that often or anything the news still shocked him. He was surprised that he heard anything about it until then. Though he guessed it was in character for Jade, she was pretty outgoing and loved to travel.

While thankful for Jade's distraction, Karkat was still on edge, dreading the end of the conversation. He was trying to run through every possible explanation in his mind, not-so-discreetly glaring daggers at John.

Mercifully the bell rang before anything else could be brought up. The room erupted into commotion as students began getting up from their seats, packing their things up into bags and shuffling towards different parts of the building for their afternoon classes. The four of them did the same, though that uneasy feeling in Karkat's stomach wouldn't go away. He was still afraid to look at Dave.

"So we'll meet up after school like usual?"

The shorter jumped at the sound of his boyfriend's voice, looking up at him. Based on his expression, he didn't SEEM mad. Though to be fair, his expression was relatively neutral. Seriously, _fuck_ those shades. Dave's pretty lucky he had a legitimate excuse to wear them all the time or Karkat would have destroyed them forever ago.

Remembering to respond, he nodded. "Yeah." He confirmed, trying to keep his voice even.

Much to his relief, Dave finally smiled and nodded too. "Cool. Don't miss me too much until then." He teased.

Karkat practically scoffed with an eye roll. "Yeah, right."

The other just laughed, nudging his shoulder playfully as he walked past in the opposite direction towards his own classroom.

Karkat watched him disappear into the crowd for a second, still unsure, but feeling better overall. Maybe in those few hours before school was over Dave would forget about the whole thing. If there's one infuriating flaw about Dave that he was still learning to live with, it was his forgetfulness. Maybe, just once, it would work in his favor rather than against him.

Until then, he had an incredibly uneventful afternoon of classes to dwell on things. Not really something to look forward to.

\--

As promised, Karkat waited for Dave by his car after school. It was pretty old, being a hand-me-down from Kankri, but at least it was driveable. The same couldn't be said for a lot of the other cars driven by students.

While he was waiting, he absently scrolled through the missed notifications on his phone. Their huge group chat had been exceptionally chatty that day, racking up hundreds of messages just within the span of a couple hours. He could barely read through them all, trying desperately to scroll past large blocks of mustard yellow, red, and teal text. God, his friends really must not have fuckall to do at school.

Every few seconds he'd glance up into the crowd of students still filtering out of the building, looking for Dave. It wasn't uncommon for him to get caught up in a conversation with someone else for a minute, though Karkat didn't have a lot of time to spare, making him feel more antsy than usual.

He finally emerged from the building, his blond hair reflecting the sun in a way that made it appear almost white. His hands were in the pockets of his red jacket as he made the short walk over to Karkat's car, smiling to acknowledge him when he was close enough. "Yo."

"Fucking finally. I was freezing my ass off out here." The shorter complained, pushing himself up to stand properly. He stuffed his hands in the pocket of his hoodie and tried to bury his face down further into the thick fabric for emphasis.

Dave snorted. "Freezing? It's at least sixty degrees out here and you're wearing, like, three layers of clothing."

"Yeah, so? That's fucking cold, Dave. We've been over this a million times." He reminded him. With the Strider finally there, he went over to the driver's side and opened the door, sliding into his seat after tossing his heavy backpack into the back seat.

Dave followed suit, throwing his own bag down onto the clean floorboard before getting settled in on the passengers side. He watched as Karkat got his keys out of his pocket, the few keychains he had on the keyring clinking together softly. Dave had bought all of them and continued to buy more despite Karkat begging him to stop. He couldn't help it, he just had the intense urge to buy his boyfriend shitty $1 trinkets whenever he saw them. Who could resist buying the ‘Oh Shit! Your 40!’ keychain he found at the gas station. Plus, if he really hated them so much, he wouldn't continue attaching them to everything he owned. Even his backpack was completely decked out.

The engine rumbled to life as the key turned in the ignition. The radio started playing on a local station at low volume and the air vents blew lukewarm air into the car. Dave already knew Karkat was going to blast the heat so he turned the vents away from him and cracked the window on his side. While the other started the slow process of getting out of the high school parking lot, the blond grabbed the AUX cord so he could play some REAL music.

Karkat bit his lip nervously, glancing at Dave every few seconds as he went about his normal routine of finding them some music to listen to. Was he really not going to bring up what John had said at lunch? If he hadn't mentioned it yet then maybe he had forgotten about it, giving Karkat some more time to think things over and figure out what exactly was going on. Plus, he didn't even know all the specifics himself yet, which made things that much more complicated-

"Oh shit, did you see that Jojo Siwa released a new song? I gotta hear this." Dave announced, cutting off his train of thought.

The shorter furrowed his brows together. "What? Who?"

Dave ignored his question, choosing the song and filling the car with a sickly pop beat that made Karkat's fucking teeth hurt. Leave it to the Strider to find the most obnoxious garbage imaginable. Still, he'd rather listen to that than talk, at least for the time being.

By the time they were about a minute into the awful children's pop song, Karkat had gotten them out of the parking lot and onto the road. Unfortunately that didn't necessarily mean they got to move any faster, what with Dave living in downtown Houston and all. At least the normal streets of the city weren't only filled with students all trying to flee the same place at the same time, resulting in a traffic pile-up full of impatient teenagers.

Karkat was literally just about to let his guard down when Dave leaned forward in his seat, turning the volume knob down so the music would quiet. Before the shorter could get a word out, the Strider asked the dreaded question. "So what the hell was John talking about earlier?"

Karkat felt his soul leave his body. Of course. Why did he expect anything else? "What do you mean?" He tried to play dumb, hoping that Dave couldn't see through his obvious lie.

"C'mon, man, you know. College applications? An essay?"

Shit. While he could try to feign innocence, there was no point. He'd been told by multiple people in his life that he was a terrible liar. He bit his bottom lip nervously, his heart beating fast in his chest. "... Yeah, I've been applying for colleges." He admitted, his voice quiet. He tried to swallow down the lump that suddenly formed in his throat. The tense situation was causing him to sweat underneath all his layers.

Dave's thick eyebrows furrowed together, a look of hurt on his face. "And you told John before me?"

"Wh-What? No!" Karkat defended instantly, not missing the way his boyfriend's shoulders dropped with relief. "I didn't tell John anything. He happened to overhear me talking to our English teacher about my application essay. I asked him to proof read it or whatever the fuck. And of course John had to be nosy and eavesdrop on our conversation, you know how he is." He continued to reassure. There was no fucking way he was going to let Dave think that he'd tell John anything of his own free will.

The blond's relief was short-lived as he continued on. "How come you never mentioned it to me at all, though? How many applications have you sent in? Have you been accepted anywhere? Have you sent in the essay already? Is there a particular school you want to go to? How far away would..."

Karkat was rapidly approaching the point of sensory overload. Dave was spitting questions out at him faster than he could process them (something he did when trying to appear casual even though he was on the verge of panicking). That combined with the fact that he was trying to weave in and out of busy Houston traffic only made the situation that much more hectic. His hands were gripping his steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white and he had to squeeze his eyes shut for a split second. "Jesus christ, Dave, stop!" He interrupted his boyfriend. "One at a time! Will you at least let me pull over before you fucking interrogate me?" He asked desperately.

Dave shrank back in his seat, looking down and fiddling with his phone in his lap. "Sorry..." He muttered, so quiet that Karkat almost didn't hear him.

The other softened when hearing Dave's meek voice. Shit. The two sat in uncomfortable silence as Karkat started scanning the nearby businesses to find a convenient parking lot to pull into. As soon as he could, he switched lanes and turned off of the main road, finding a place to park in front of a random restaurant. He went further away from the door since they weren't planning on going inside.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the car was finally stopped and shifted into park. He unbuckled his seat belt, turning in his seat as much as he could so that he could properly face Dave. "Okay, you can go ahead. I didn't mean to yell at you before..."

Dave's lips quirked up into a tiny smile. "You yell all the time, man." He joked, relieving some of the tense atmosphere between them.

It worked because Karkat also had to prevent himself from smiling. He rolled his eyes instead. "You know what I meant." He said.

The Strider nodded. Instead of the endless stream of questions he was bombarded with before, Karkat watched as Dave abruptly seemed to forget everything he had wanted to say. His mouth opened and closed a couple times but no words came out. Thankfully Karkat was patient, letting him think. "So... When did you decide that you were, like, going to college? I always thought you were going to go to the community college. You know, the one that Dirk and your brother go to. Er, well, Dirk DID go there, since he dropped out... Fuck, you know what I mean." He insisted after he got caught up in his mistake. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that the local community college doesn't even require a formal application, let alone an essay..."

That was as good of a place to start as any, Karkat thought. He could answer that. "I WAS planning on going to the community college." He said, which was absolutely true. "But I just started thinking like... it couldn't hurt to try and apply to some four year universities? I was just curious to see if I'd get accepted, mostly. I started sending the applications in February, I think."

Dave was quiet for a second, processing the information. "But why didn't you tell me...?" He urged.

That awful, sick feeling of guilt was like a rock in Karkat's stomach. "I just didn't think it was that important to bring up? Like I said, it was just to see if I could get in. It wasn't that serious at first."

"At first?"

Okay, that one was going to be harder to explain. "Well... I found a place that had a program pretty much specifically tailored for what I want to go into. Their application process is a lot more intense so I dedicated a shit ton of time and effort towards writing that fucking essay."

"Is that why you've been so fuckin' busy lately?" Dave asked even if he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

"Yeah. It fucking sucks."

The other nodded, going quiet. He continued to absentmindedly fidget with his phone, more specifically the worn case on it. While he hadn't had a negative reaction to the news, his silence was making Karkat nervous. "I really am sorry I didn't tell you, I wasn't doing it on purpose. Like I said, it was just something I started doing and before I realized it I was suddenly really serious about it and I know I've been stupidly absent recently and that I haven't been coming over as much and-"

"Did you get accepted?" Dave asked, effectively cutting off his frantic explanations. God, who was he, Kankri?

Karkat blinked, confused by the change in topic. "What?"

"The place you sent the essay to. Did you get accepted?"

"Uh... Yeah, I did." He admitted, almost sheepishly.

The blond smiled. "So you're going to go, right? You said that they had a program you're interested in? You got accepted, so you should go." He urged, genuinely excited. It made Karkat's chest ache in a way that wasn't guilt.

He was admittedly floored by the encouragement. Actually, Dave was taking all of the news exceptionally well. "But... what about you?" He managed to spit out, unable to dance around the subject any more.

"What about me? I mean, we can still visit each other pretty often, right? It's not like you're moving across the country or anything." He said, though it sounded like he was trying to put himself at ease more than Karkat.

The lump in Karkat's throat was back and he swallowed. "N-No... but it is all the way across the state."

Another bout of deafening silence hung heavily in the air between them. It was so awful that for a second Karkat briefly considered fleeing the car and jumping into traffic. "O-Oh..." Dave finally muttered. He was openly frowning now, his shades not doing a great job of masking what he was feeling.

Panic began to bubble up Karkat's chest again. "Just because I got accepted doesn't mean that I'm going. I mean, who the fuck needs a degree from a four year university anyway? Kankri's going to the community college and he's not complaining; and trust me, if Kankri had ANYTHING to say about it he absolutely would. The program at that place isn't even that great, I bet. It's probably the same exact program that every single other university offers but they just have one extra course that focuses on some irrelevant bullshit that they try to pass off as 'essential' for no reason other than the fact that they need SOMETHING to set them apart from everyone else."

The entire time Karkat was ranting, Dave seemed deep in thought. "What if I applied?" He suggested out of the blue.

Again, the other was completely blindsided. "You... want to apply?" He asked, unable to keep the shocked tone from his voice.

Dave shrugged one of his thin shoulders. "Why not? If I got in too then we could go together and that would be super dope."

Karkat tried to search for Dave's eyes behind his impenetrable shades. They were just mirrored enough that he only saw himself and his own disbelieving expression in them. "Do YOU even want to go to college? You literally haven't mentioned shit about it. I didn't even think you were interested in going to the community college, let alone a four year university."

Another shrug and a couple more seconds of hesitation before he spoke again. "I'll follow you wherever you go. I want to be with you." He admitted.

The statement was so soft and earnest that Karkat thought he was going to die. He doesn't think his face had ever been so red as his wide eyes just stared at his boyfriend, who was somehow still reclining in his passengers seat like he hadn't just said the most romantic shit he'd ever heard. Jesus Christ if Dave kept talking like that he was definitely going to pass out.

He took a couple seconds to recover after his brain short-circuited, taking in a shaky breath. As much as he wanted to say 'yes, absolutely, go for it' he couldn't ignore the reality of the situation. The Strider had to realize that that endeavor was much easier said than done. "D-Dave, listen..." He began, gnawing on his bottom lip as he tried to think of how to put what he was about to say in more delicate terms. Unfortunately that had never been his strong suit, because normally he didn't care about putting things delicately. To be fair, they normally didn’t talk about important shit. "Their acceptance rate is pretty low, and..." He trailed off, hoping that Dave would get what he was trying to imply.

The blond just continued to stare, waiting for him to continue.

Karkat sighed loudly and groaned. "Oh come on, you know what I'm going to say! It's not a fucking secret that you kind of suck shit at school, Dave. You really don't need me to tell you that. You may be an idiot but I know that you have at least that much self awareness."

It was Dave's turn to sigh that time. "No, you're right, I know." He confirmed, shifting around to sit in a different position. "I can still try though, right? Is it too late? When do they stop accepting applications?"

"Fuck if I know. You'd definitely be cutting it close even though it's only March."

"They'll probably keep accepting applications into April, at least. I can try to get an essay written over the next month." Dave continued, full of vigor that Karkat wasn't used to seeing in him, especially when it came to anything academic.

Weirdly, the optimism was rubbing off on him too, and his sense of dread was very slowly being replaced by excitement. Not completely, but a bit. "I can help you." He offered.

Dave shook his head. "No, I need to figure out how to do it myself. That's how you did it, so it's only fair that I write mine."

“Seriously? Since when did you start giving a fuck about doing shit for yourself?” Karkat asked incredulously.

"Because it's obviously a lot more serious than the typical bullshit English essay. Don't worry, babe, I'll just write what's in my heart and it's going to be so fuckin' profound that they'll have no choice but to accept my application. They're gonna be on their knees beggin’ for me to grace their campus. Probably even give me a full-ride scholarship while they're at it."

Karkat slumped back in his seat, sighing and dragging a hand across his face. "Fuck, Dave, that’s NOT going to work..." He lamented, losing hope all over again.

"I need to at least try, though." He said, his tone serious once again. "Have a little more faith in me...?"

The other looked over at him, considering the request. After a couple seconds, he nodded. "... Alright."

Dave genuinely smiled for the first time since their conversation started. "Thanks." He responded, his voice soft.

Karkat moved to sit up properly, feeling a little shaky after such a serious discussion. At least they were walking away from it cautiously optimistic. "Let's go home." He said, buckling his seat belt and putting his car back in drive. He started navigating the parking lot to get them back onto the road and towards the Strider apartment.

Dave went back to being their personal DJ, letting his music fill the silence between them as he scrolled through other things on his phone to pass the time. It was one of the playlists that he knew Karkat was particularly fond of. In a way it was a quiet apology for the shit he made him listen to earlier, as well as the tense conversation that both of them weren't exactly prepared to have. It was the small things that made Karkat have to bite back a smile.

Once Karkat's car was parked on the side of the road in front of Dave's apartment building, the Strider unplugged his phone and reached down to retrieve his bag from the floorboard. "You wanna come inside and hang out?" He asked, always hopeful.

The shorter frowned. "I have to work tonight..." He informed him regretfully.

"Damn."

"I can walk with you up to the apartment though." Karkat compromised. Because of their little detour earlier he was already going to be late, so a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. Working with his dad sucked, but at least he never really had worry about being fired. He'll probably just get the usual scolding and a slap on the wrist. All things considered, Karkat was a good employee. He'd worked there for almost three years and he could count the amount of times he'd shown up late on one hand.

The two of them climbed out of the car and Karkat locked it right before they entered the building. Dave still had his face in his phone, intently looking at something even when they started ascending the staircases. The shorter kept trying to peek around him so that he could see, but he was also trying to focus on not losing his footing as they climbed up. He wasn't exactly the most graceful person and really wasn't in the mood to tumble down a bunch of stairs and break his nose. Dave finally pocketed his phone when they were only a couple flights away from his floor.

"What were you looking at?" Karkat asked, unable to keep his curiosity at bay anymore.

The blond used both hands to try and prevent his backpack straps from slipping off of his shoulders. Why he didn't just tighten up the straps, Karkat had no idea. "I found the college website and I was clickin' around. It does look pretty fuckin' fancy, but I'm not gonna let that scare me away." Dave assured him, remaining confident. "I also found the application page to find out exactly what I need to do and all that."

"Oh yeah? Think you can handle it?" Karkat asked, raising his eyebrows. He was being supportive, but he couldn't help but let the tiniest bit of doubt bleed into his voice. Though the fact that Dave seemed so determined and was already gathering details was promising.

"I told you, I fuckin' got this. I'm going to write the most kickass essay. I bet it'll even surpass yours."

Karkat scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You wish."

The two slowed to a stop at Dave's front door, standing to face each other. "Are you sure you can't ditch work?" Dave asked kind of desperately.

Karkat frowned, putting his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. "No. I'm already fucking pushing it by being late, my dad would literally kill me if I didn't show up at all."

"Fuck..." Dave complained dramatically. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah." The shorter confirmed with a nod.

Instead of leaving, though, Karkat awkwardly lingered. He kept glancing up and down between the floor and Dave's face, biting his lip.

Dave knew exactly what he wanted and laughed quietly, affectionately rolling his eyes behind his shades. He took a step forward and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, giving him a tight hug. At first Karkat bristled at the contact, though it took less than a second for him to relax into it. He took his hands out of his hoodie pocket and returned the embrace, grabbing onto the fabric of Dave's jacket on his back. He buried his face into the side of Dave's neck, refusing to loosen his grip for at least a solid thirty seconds. Hugging Karkat was like hugging a pillow, he was so fucking soft. They were so close that Dave could smell the faint, sweet scent of Karkat’s shampoo. It was warm and familiar, causing him to melt into the hug and let the previous tension roll off of him in waves.

He did eventually loosen his grip, much to Karkat's dismay. He reluctantly lifted his head up from where it was pressed between Dave's neck and shoulder, mourning the loss of warmth. Dave didn't completely step away, though, keeping their faces close. Karkat easily understood what he was asking for, giving him permission with the tiniest nod. He tried not to smile as he leaned forward to kiss him.

It was chaste, and Dave had every intention of keeping it short and sweet. Though, surprisingly, he felt Karkat eagerly lean into it, moving one of his hands up to the back of his neck so that they could keep going. He followed his example, moving his own hands so that they rested comfortably on the shorter’s waist. Fuck, he really didn’t want to stop. He'd gladly kiss Karkat all day if he could. Fuck college, why couldn't he just get a degree in kissing his boyfriend?

After a few more soft kisses, the shorter finally pulled away, not missing the way Dave leaned forward to try and follow his lips. By the way he kept his hand on Dave's neck insinuated that he really didn't want to part either. Karkat's dark eyes fluttered open, and while Dave still had his shades on, he could faintly see his eyes behind them because they were so close. There was a second of silence as the two caught their breath. "Quit trying to distract me." He accused.

Dave's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Oh now it's my fault? C'mon dude you totally kept that shit goin' and you know it."

Karkat rolled his eyes and Dave could see his cheeks darken with a blush. "What the fuck ever." He replied, obviously trying not to smile.

The other laughed softly, taking a step back so that Karkat actually had to let him go. "I'll text you later." He promised, putting a hand on the doorknob behind him.

"Okay, sounds good." Karkat said definitively, turning on his heels and making his way back towards the stairwell, taking his keys out of his pocket as he walked.

Dave watched after him until he disappeared down the stairs, letting out a long sigh once he was alone. Well, he might as well get started on that essay since it was fresh on his mind.

\--

Okay... Dave was really starting to regret not letting Karkat help him.

He had been sitting in front of his computer for at least three hours, a blank word document staring back at him for the majority of that time. He kept the application guidelines open on his phone, reading them over again for probably the hundredth time. His eyebrows were furrowed together in frustration. He just did not understand what the hell they were asking of him. List his greatest academic accomplishments? Meaningful experiences that have shaped him as a person? How they relate to what kind of student he is? He couldn't think of shit to put down for any of the questions, let alone string them all together into a comprehensible essay. The blinky cursor on the blank page was practically mocking him at that point.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He switched over to his messenger app to read over the couple messages Karkat had sent him once he had gotten home from work. The other sounded pretty tired, his paragraphs significantly shorter and lacking that usual vigor Dave was used to. Eventually he slowed his own responses to stop completely so Karkat could get some sleep.

His mouth pursed into a thin line as he turned to stare out of his open window, watching as his curtains gently moved with the small breeze coming into his room. It would have been so easy to not even bother, but he had to try. He held himself together pretty well when Karkat broke the news to him. He probably would have freaked out a lot more if his boyfriend wasn't so obviously bothered by it as well. He definitely didn't want to make the situation any worse.

Applying himself seemed like a good idea in the moment, though now he was really starting to doubt his capabilities. The worst thing was he KNEW that Karkat would help him if he asked, but he already made a scene about doing it himself, he'd feel bad if he went back on it. Plus, he didn't want to contribute to Karkat's stress if he could avoid it.

One thing was for sure, though; he needed help. While he preferred the help to come from Karkat, he already ruled out that option, so he'd have to look elsewhere. There were his other friends, like Jade or John, but they were both pretty busy with their own jobs and stuff. John worked full time at one of the last standing video stores on the planet and Jade spent all of her time volunteering at animal shelters. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to see them enough within a month to get an essay written.

It would have to be someone he saw pretty often... Maybe bro? No, he'd ask too many questions. Also just the idea of bro sitting down and trying to help him write an academic paper was so fucking funny he was almost started laughing alone in his room. While that'd honestly be hilarious, it wouldn’t be productive. Definitely not bro, then.

The answer hit Dave all at once. If he were in a cartoon a little light bulb would have lit up over his head. He probably couldn't get bro to help him, but he did have DIRK. His brother Dirk, who was conveniently very smart and didn't have fuckall to do ever since he dropped out of college and broke up with his boyfriend. Er, ex-boyfriend. Whatever.

Dave didn't even really consider how he would convince Dirk to help him, he just grabbed his laptop and scooted off of his bed. He swiftly exited his room and walked a few steps down the hallway with confidence until he was in front of Dirk's door. Usually he would knock, but he didn't have time for that shit. By that point it was pretty late at night, meaning that the other was almost definitely awake. Seeing Dirk while the sun was up was rare.

He grabbed the handle and pushed the door open a crack, peeking inside just to make sure his prediction was correct before walking in. Just as he thought, his older brother was leaned over his desk, working under the warm yellow light of his lamp. He didn't have his headphones on that time, so he jumped at the sound of his door opening, whipping his head around to see Dave in the doorway. He squinted against the harsh light that poured in from the hallway. "Jesus fuck..." He complained, bringing his shades down from where they were resting on his head back over his eyes. "What do you want?" He asked, already annoyed.

Dave did not let that deter him. "Can you help me with something?" He responded, straight to the point. He didn't exactly wait for an answer, clamoring into Dirk's room and almost eating shit when he tripped on some wires that ran across the floor. He made an impressively smooth recovery and totally didn't almost drop his laptop. What the fuck did those wires even go to, anyway?

Finally next to his brother, Dave could at least tell he had showered within the last couple days and changed his clothes (though he still wore Dane's robe). The state of his room was still pretty abysmal, though. He was half-tempted to do him a favor by taking some of the empty soda cans littering his desk and throwing them away.

Speaking of, he distantly noticed that some of the previous sketches and drawings that were there before had been replaced with new ones. The shades that he had last seen plugged into the computer were sitting off to the side, the legs folded neatly underneath them. They would have appeared rather innocuous if it weren't for the two red lights in the middle of each lens, ominously staring at him and Dirk like they were real eyes. Who knows, maybe there actually was a camera in there? Dave didn't like that, for some reason.

"Well? What is it?" Dirk spoke up, raising an eyebrow and leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.

Dave blinked, snapping out of his trance. He turned his head to properly look at his brother again, remembering what he had gone in there for. "Oh, yeah! Could you help me write something?"

Dirk was silent, the whirring fan of his computer the only sound in the room before he could form a response. "Write something...?" He finally managed to repeat in the most deadpan tone Dave had ever heard.

"Yeah, write something. I'm tryin' to send in this college application and it requires an essay about my 'greatest academic accomplishments', whatever the fuck that means."

There was another pregnant pause as Dirk continued to stare at him. "... Are you fucking with me?"

Dave's brows furrowed together in frustration. "I'm not fucking with you." He said.

Dirk was surprised by his oddly defensive tone. "Why are you asking me? I'm a college dropout, remember? I don't know how much help I'd be."

Dave barked out a quick laugh. "Come on, dude, don't play dumb. I distinctly remember when you were in high school and you would literally calculate out what you had to do to pass with average grades. And you pulled it off. Like, perfectly. You ALWAYS complained shit wasn't hard enough, or whatever the fuck. You constantly talk about how you dropped out just because you were bored to death, not that school was hard."

Well, fuck. He was right. No use denying that. He decided to steer the conversation away from him. "Since when are you going to college? Isn't it a bit too late to be sending in applications?"

"I checked and I still have about a month to do it. That should be plenty of time. Look, here are the guidelines." Dave pressed, moving to set his laptop down on his brother's desk. He unceremoniously had to shove aside a few papers and tools to get the device fully on the surface and he made sure to ignore the pointed glare from Dirk as he did so.

The older Strider let out a long sigh through his nose, reluctantly rolling his chair a couple inches forward so he could properly see the screen of Dave's laptop. His fingers smoothly used the tracking pad as he clicked around and scrolled through the web page Dave had pulled up. The youngest awkwardly stood off to the side, waiting for the other to finish reading.

Dirk glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "This place looks fancy as shit. Why are you applying here specifically? You know there are plenty of other schools in the area that don't even require half of the bullshit this one's asking for. Here, look, I can find some right now." Dirk began, opening a new tab and moving to type in the search bar.

"No!" Dave interjected, and Dirk abruptly stopped typing. "It HAS to be this school."

The other stared at him, caught off guard by his outburst. "Why?" He questioned, still thrown off by his little brother's sudden urgency. He obviously wasn't telling him something.

Dave paused, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. He felt his explanation die in his throat. There was no way he could just tell Dirk it was because of Karkat. For some reason he had a feeling that would make the other less inclined to help him, especially considering what went down between them just a month ago.

Apparently Dave was too fucking predictable since Dirk narrowed his eyes at him behind his shades. "Does this have something to do with Karkat?" He asked, already knowing damn well what the answer was.

Dave glanced down at the ground, purposely avoiding Dirk's gaze. He brought up one of his hands to sheepishly rub at the back of his neck as he thought of what to say. "Yeah..." He admitted.

Dirk sighed again, closing his eyes and using his thumb and index finger to squeeze at the bridge of his nose, pushing his shades up slightly as he did so. He could already feel a headache forming behind his eyes. "Are you seriously trying to apply to this place because KARKAT'S going? Do you even want to go here? Have you even thought of a major? How much it will cost? I know bro has some money saved up but I'm sure he wouldn't fucking appreciate you throwing it away just to follow your fucking boyfriend all the way across the state."

Another heavy silence permeated the air. Dirk was expecting Dave to scramble to defend himself, but he just stared back at him, his expression weirdly neutral. He definitely didn't miss the way Dave's hands clenched into fists at his side, at least giving some indication of what he was feeling. There was a couple more seconds of intense eye contact until Dave was the first to look away. He reached to grab his laptop off of Dirk's desk. "Never mind, forget it." He muttered, so quiet that Dirk almost didn't hear him.

Dirk's lips pursed together in a thin line, watching Dave pick up his laptop and close the lid. Okay, even he couldn't deny that he may have overstepped it a little. They were just starting to reach a state of normalcy between them after Dane left a couple weeks ago, and Dirk really didn't feel like going all the way back to square fucking one. The vibes in the apartment were always rank when him and Dave were fighting. And of course bro would stick his nose in it, usually getting mad at Dirk since he always took Dave's side. Just thinking about it gave him a headache that he'd rather avoid.

"Dave, wait." He called out before the younger could reach the door. He stopped but didn't turn around, glancing back at him over his shoulder. God, Dirk hated this. "I'll help you, but can you at least TRY to look into other places? Or at least start considering what you'd want to study? Having a goal instead of being undecided will look better on the application, anyway." He suggested.

Dave considered his request and finally turned around, his body relaxing as some of his anger left him. "For real? You're going to help?"

Unfortunately, Dirk thought. "Yes." Is what he said out loud.

The other smiled. "Oh thank god. I seriously don't even know where the fuck to start."

Dirk put a hand on his chin, thinking. There had to be a way to get it done as quickly as possible. "How about this," He began his proposal, leaning forward in his chair. "Just let me write the essay for you. Nobody's going to know who the fuck wrote it and I know exactly what they're looking for. You're pretty much guaranteed to get in and it'll be done."

Dave listened to what Dirk had to say, his shoulders falling with disappointment. "What...? No way, man, I have to write it myself. I can't just let you write it for me."

The older frowned, frustration bubbling up in him again. "Why not...? Who the fuck cares? You get accepted and you and Karkat get to go to the same school, it's a fucking win-win."

"Because..." Dave had to find a way to put what he was feeling into words. "Because that wouldn't be fair to Karkat...? I dunno, he worked so fucking hard on it and I don't want to be that asshole who just had their brother write their fuckin' application and get in with no problem... Also isn't that illegal? I dunno shit about laws or whatever but I think that may be illegal. Just a hunch."

Jesus Christ Dirk wanted to slam his head into his desk. Out of all the times to take the moral high ground... "People do it all the time, Dave, nobody cares. Do you want to get in or not?"

"I do!" The other insisted. "But I want to write it. All I need is someone to at least help me get started, you know? Karkat was talking about, like, proof reading and shit? God, I bet his essay was so fucking good..." He said, his voice drifting off towards the end as he got lost in thought.

The other had to resist the urge to make a face at Dave's daydreaming. "Fine, fine, okay." He broke, approaching the issue from another angle. "How about you write the first draft and I'll proof read it? That way it's still yours but I can fix shit for you, or whatever. Is that good enough?"

Dave perked up and nodded eagerly, like that idea a lot better. "Yeah man, sounds good." He agreed.

"Cool. Just bring it to me in the next few days when you finish it." He said, turning around in his chair. He pushed his shades back up on his head, readjusting things that Dave had moved around so that he could get back to work.

The other took that as an obvious hint that their conversation was over. He started walking backwards towards the door. "Alright bro, roger that." He said. When he was back in the hallway, he grabbed for the handle. Before he closed the door all the way, he paused. "... Thanks, man." He added, loud enough so his brother could hear him. He didn't wait for a response, though, instead shutting the door with a quiet click.

In his room, Dirk's hands stopped what they were doing, replaying Dave's appreciative remark over and over again in his head. He wasn't really sure why he thanked him at all, especially since Dirk didn't necessarily take the nicest approach to the news of his application. The longer he thought about it, the more his chest ached with a feeling he couldn't quite describe. Well... there wasn't really anything he could do about it.

He grabbed his headphones and slipped them on, turning on some music in a futile attempt to drown out his own thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally will never get enough of writing these two, they're so much fun. 
> 
> As stated in the beginning notes, art is drawn by Karcutie. Check them out on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/karcutie/?hl=en), [Tumblr](https://karcutie.tumblr.com/), and [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karcutie/pseuds/Karcutie). If you're interested in keeping up with me, you can follow me on [Tumblr](https://davethot.tumblr.com/)! 
> 
> If you want to see more from us, check out our ongoing Homestuck Hogwarts AU! You can find it [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24868744/chapters/60165799).


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